Autonomous vehicles use computing systems to aid in the transport of passengers from one location to another. Such vehicles may be equipped with various types of sensors in order to detect objects in their surroundings. Autonomous vehicles may include lasers, sonar, radar, cameras, and other devices which scan and record data from the vehicle's surroundings. These devices may be used to detect the geometry of the road on which the vehicles are travelling and determine the locations of the road's curb and lanes.
FIG. 1, depicts a flowchart 100 of a high-level process executed by autonomous vehicles in general. According to the process, an autonomous vehicle is programmed with a destination and asked to reach it (task 110). Upon receiving the destination, the autonomous vehicle may retrieve a map and derive a model for the geometry of the road on which the vehicle may be travelling (task 120). Afterwards, the vehicle may use the road model to stay on the road and reach the destination safely (task 130).
When road maintenance is performed, lanes in the road may become closed or shifted. The road geometry may change and the map used to produce the road model may become inaccurate. The inaccuracy may carry into the road model generated based on the map. This may pose danger to the safe operation of the autonomous vehicle, for instance putting it at risk of crashing into barriers or other types of road blocks.